Soaping attachment for a faucet



Dec. 28, 1965 p, HELMAN 3,226,034

SOAPING ATTACHMENT FOR A FAUCET Filed Jan. 20, 1964 INVENTOR.

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PHILLIP HEL AN BY [F IG. 6 W

TTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,226,034 SOAPING ATTACHMENT FOR A FAUCET Phillip Holman, Brighton, Boston, Mass., 'assignor to Myron Snyder, Inc., Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Jan. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 338,895 1 Claim. (Cl. 239-316) This invention relates to a soaping attachment for a faucet. In particular it relates to a receptacle which is easily attached to a water faucet in a sink and in which pieces of soap can be placed, to form instantaneous soap suds.

The concept of having soap in some form incorporated into flowing water is not new. Thus, devices have been described in the prior art which are used in conjunction with a shower head or in association with a faucet. However, such previously described devices suffer from one or more significant disadvantages. Some are complex and costly. Others require modification of the inlet end of the water line, such as an access door in a shower head. Some require that the soap itself be of special construction. Another problem in prior art devices is poor control of the actual sudsing with spillover and instability.

Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide a soaping device adapted to attach to a faucet and which is simple and inexpensive to make, uses ordinary pieces of soap and provides controllable sudsing.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the specification and claim which follow, taken together with the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of this invention in assembled form.

FIG. 2 is a right half median vertical sectional view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an inside view looking up at the top member of the device.

FIG. 4 is an inside view looking down at the middle member of the device.

FIG. 5 is an inside view looking down on the bottom member of the device.

FIG. 6 is a right half median vertical sectional view of another embodiment of this invention.

This invention comprises essentially three cooperating parts. The top part is a hollow member of unitary construction, having a solid side wall and having an open top end engageable with a faucet. This upper member has an open bottom end. The second member is the lower hollow member. This lower =hollow member has a top end engageable with the bottom end of the upper member and has an inner flange adjacent to this top end. The lower hollow member has perforations in its side wall. The third component is an inner perforated soap support adapted to seat on the flange.

The embodiment illustrated in the drawings comprises the top hollow member 10, having a solid side wall 11 which has a bent-over, downwardly directed inwardly tapering extension 14 forming a faucet-gripping inner wall. The bottom opening of the upper hollow member is formed by a circular vertical wall 111, which is engageable with the lower hollow member 12 as explained below.

The lower hollow member 12 has an open end defined by a vertical wall 127, having a top bead 128 and having an outer circular flange 121 extending to the outer wall 127 and also incorporating a circular bead 127 on said flange spaced away from said outer wall 127 by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the vertical wall 111 of the upper hollow member 10.

The bottom of the lower member 12 is a solid portion having perforations 125a.

The side wall of the bottom member 12 is perforated. The perforations are contained on horizontal, annular ledges 122, 123 and 124, containing respectively perforations 122a, 123a and 124a throughout the annuli. Tapering vertical walls 12212, 12312 and 124b connect the successive ledges. These tapering vertical walls do not have perforations in this preferred form.

The soap supporting member illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4 is generally conical in shape so as to give a large volume when it is inserted in the device. This soap support member has an upper horizontal, perforated flange which seats on flange 121 and has an upper vertical peripheral wall 133 which also is in engagement with the tapering wall 112 of the upper hollow member 10. A substantial portion of the surface of the soap supporting member 13 is filled with perforations 1317 A second form of soap support member is a flat plate disposed and shaped so as to seat On the flange 121 of the bottom member 12 and abut the bead 126. Such a flat member 15 with its perforations 151 is illustrated in FIG. 6.

The various components of the invention may be made of a variety of materials. However, it is preferred that the construction of each component be unitary and that it be made of a flexible water resistant material. The flexibility is of significance for attachment to the faucet; and for the joining of the upper and lower members together, except where the upper and lower members are joined together by threading. A wide variety of synthetic plastic materials meet the requirements of such water resistance and flexibility. However, it is feasible to use other materials of construction such as water resistant sheet metal.

The embodiments of this invention, when tested with pieces of soap placed on the soap support members, provided stable, controlled sudsing. The device itself was easily attached or detached from the ordinary water faucet.

While the preferred embodiments of this invention have been described in detail, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the particular construction set forth, since various changes in the form, proportions, and arrangement of parts, and in the detail of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or destroying any of the advantages contained in the same, heretofore described and defined in the following claims.

I claim:

A soaping attachment for a faucet, comprising a housing formed of an upper and a lower section having mating portions for removably uniting the two sections together, the top portion of said upper section having resilient means for removably uniting it to a faucet, the circumambient dimension of said housing at the area of said mating portions being substantially greater than at the area of said top portion, said lower section being formed with a series of stepped segments of decreasing circumambient dimension proceeding downwardly from said varea of said mating portions, each said segment including a generally vertical wall and a generally horizontal wall, said horizontal walls being perforated and said vertical walls being unperforated, and a perforated, soap retainer generally tapered in a downwardly direction and generally conforming to the contour of said lower section, position in and spaced from said walls of said lower section, said retainer having a generally horizontal flange resting on one of said horizontal walls of said lower section and being unsecured to said upper section.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Gilmour 239-316 Smead 239-316 Hughen 239-316 Hagopian 239277 Marvin 239-310 Corson 239316 2,699,357 1/1955 Roth 239-277 2,986,340 5/1961 Webb 2393 15 FOREIGN PATENTS 244,149 12/ 1925 Great Britain. 474,090 10/ 1937 Great Britain.

M. HENSON WOOD; IR., Primary Examiner. EVERETT W-.' KIRBY, Examiner. 

